Next-door Neighbors Stick Together

After 19 Years Of Friendship, They Move Their Homes In Sync

August 8, 1995|By JODY BENJAMIN Staff Writer

PEMBROKE PINES - — John and Jacki Shields like living next door to Gary and Patty Gibson. They like it so much that after 19 years as neighbors in Miramar, the two families moved next door to each other in Pembroke Pines.

The Gibsons live on the right, the Shieldses on the left, just like before.

In transient South Florida, where neighbors often don't know each other's names, the two families are an exception.

"People who don't know us think it's strange," said Jacki Shields, 48, a contracting vice president originally from New Jersey. "I believe we're fortunate to have friends we care about enough to stay with."

Over the years, they've shared a lot: ski trips, New Year's Eve card games, late-night horror movies that delighted the wives and often made the squeamish husbands leave the room.

The two families met in 1976, shortly after Jacki Shields took a dispatching job at the Miami contractor's office where Gary Gibson worked.

Gary told Jacki of a house for sale next door to him in Miramar.

The Shieldses eventually bought the house on Tropicana Street. Neither couple suspected such an enduring friendship would begin.

"Things happen that you don't foresee," said Gary, 45, an engineer.

In the beginning, Jacki and Patty would have long conversations after work in Patty's kitchen.

It became such a routine that the families put stepstools against their common fence so the women could climb over, shortening their trip next door.

Later, after they could afford it, they had a door built in.

The couples began going out to dinner. Then John, a 57-year-old accountant, got everyone interested in skiing. For seven of the past 10 years, they have taken ski trips together to Colorado.

And last year, when the Shieldses decided to move from their one-story Miramar bungalow, the Gibsons thought they had to move too.

Even though they socialize, the families lead separate lives.

"We're not always in each other's face. But when the hammer comes down, we know we can count on them for support," John said.

The families settled on two lakefront lots in TownGate.

The Gibsons moved into their new home in January 1995. One month later, the Shieldses followed.

The longtime neighbors don't how long it will last.

"I'm a dreamer. I say forever," said Patty, a 44-year-old medical supplies saleswoman.